She walked over to it and reached out hesitantly, afraid to touch it for fear it would disappear. But she couldn’t stop herself from fingering fabric that felt light as air.
The pale cream color had tiny violets scattered across the surface. It was pure spring compared to the dark purple, two-piece, heavy cotton dress she had been wearing for an eternity.
Rachel picked it up, holding it against her. It wasn’t like many of the dresses she had seen on television. The calf-length dress was an A-line design, with tiny purple buttons down the front. The V-shaped neckline had a tiny ruff of lace to keep it from appearing too improper in her eyes, even if the sheer sleeves ended at her elbows. She immediately fell in love with it.
She wanted so badly to put the dress on, but she still feared the idea of completely discarding her old clothing. Jared taking her clothes off to make love to her was one thing, but what if she took off her dress with the intention of never wearing it again? Would she be punished for wanting to completely banish the past?
But the new dress called out to her and her vanity won out. She wanted to wear something pretty that was from Jared’s time. Even more, she wanted to look pretty in his eyes.
Plus, he’d picked the dress out himself, with her in mind.
She struggled to unbutton her bodice and release herself from her skirt.
“You could see fit to put me back in my clothing this morning, but you could not find a way to help me tonight?” she muttered to the powers that be as she slowly dropped her petticoats. As they touched the floor she wondered if this would be the moment she disappeared for good, but nothing happened. She released the breath she had been holding and quickly picked up the dress.
Jared’s breath caught when Rachel came into the room.
The dress was a perfect fit. While it showed off her slender curves, it covered up enough of her for her to feel comfortable in the modern clothing. She had done something different to her hair, putting it up in a loose knot, with a few tendrils hanging down to highlight her cheeks and the soft nape he loved to kiss.
He noticed the brighter color highlighting her skin, adding a new sparkle to her eyes.
“Do you like it?” she asked, hesitant because he hadn’t said a word yet.
Instead of telling her, he walked over to her, framed her face with his hands and lowered his head to cover her mouth with his in a kiss that said more than he could ever vocalize. With his kiss, he told her she was more beautiful than he ever could have imagined. He told her that giving her a dress was nothing compared to what she had given him. He told her just how much she meant to him. His kiss told her he was in love with her.
Her eyes were large and dazed when he finally lifted his head.
“You’d think I’d know better than to pick something that had a million buttons,” he said wryly, spanning her waist with his hands. “Glad to see you left your cage off.”
“It did not go with the dress,” she said. “This is beautiful. Thank you.”
He looked at the joy on her face and knew his panic and unease in the boutique had been worth it. Once the salesclerk had helped him figure out Rachel’s size, and he saw the dress that he knew was meant for her, he’d paid for it and fled the store, feeling as if he was escaping with his life.
He’d gladly do it again just to see that smile on her face.
He glanced down at her feet, now bare.
“Sorry I couldn’t figure out what size shoe you wore, but I found something that should work.” He walked over to the table and picked up a box. “They sort of stretch.”
Rachel discovered the cream-colored, silky ballet-type slippers fit her just fine.
“I feel brand-new.” She spun in a circle with her arms held out. She stopped and ran her hands down the front of her dress. “I have never felt anything like this before.”
“No corset, no bustle, no high button shoes. Just you.”
Rachel’s laughter was music to his ears.
Jared wrapped an arm around her waist and twirled her around. He didn’t consider himself much of a dancer, but with Rachel following his moves, it didn’t matter.
He vowed to do whatever it took to keep her laughing like this. And one day, to dance with her outside.
It was her cries of passion that lifted him up the most. All it took was a certain smile from Rachel and he was hard as a rock.
He knew what he wanted to say would wipe away her sleepy, sated smile, but he needed to ask.
“Tell me everything you know about the curse,” he said quietly. When she started to move away from him, he tightened his hold. She finally settled back in his arms.
“I finally realized I could no longer live with Caleb,” she said softly. “A woman could not seek divorce then and no proper woman left her husband. But I didn’t care. Maya helped me by hiding a bag of my clothing near the ranch entrance and arranging passage on a stagecoach to San Francisco, then a boat to Los Angeles from there. I was so desperate to leave I didn’t care where I went.”
“Didn’t you have any friends in town who would have helped you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I wasn’t allowed to make friends. Caleb wanted his wife to be above everyone else. I was here as someone for his friends to envy, and to bear him the sons he wanted for his dynasty.”
“And what did you get in return?”
“His name,” she murmured. “Caleb had very little education, but he understood horseflesh. He could look at a foal and know if he had a winner or not. He envied men with book learning, even if he never let on.”
“And wives with book learning?”
She sighed. “I was a teacher when Caleb met me.”
“When exactly were you born?” He rubbed the top of her head with his chin.
“I was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1865,” she said primly. “My parents were not married and I was raised by a local minister and his wife. They felt I should do something useful with my life and so I was trained to teach. Caleb had come to Atlanta to buy a stallion that belonged to one of the church deacons. I met him when he accompanied the deacon to church one Sunday.”
“And the walls didn’t fall down on him?” Jared muttered.
“I am sure that would have happened later on,” she whispered.
He felt the immediate tension in her body. He ran his hands down her arms in hope of relaxing her. “Tell me.”
Rachel took a deep breath. “Caleb started accusing people of plotting against him. I think that’s why his mistress was able to control him so easily. She had him believing he would be wealthy beyond his dreams and would have everything he ever wanted.”
“But she was a bruja,” Jared recalled. “A witch.”
Rachel nodded. “I knew Caleb had a mistress and I was relieved because that meant he left me alone.” She blushed. “Maya said she was a dangerous woman. She refused to mention her name. She insisted the woman practiced black magic and should not be spoken of or to. But I heard that she wanted to be Caleb’s wife. I thought it was nothing more than native superstition, since others were so afraid of her.”
“Until it was too late?”
With each word she spoke her tension increased. “Only Maya knew of my plans of leaving.”
“Someone probably followed her into town and watched her making your travel arrangements,” he murmured.
“Yes, that is what happened. Except this woman made Caleb believe I was leaving with a man.” Rachel momentarily closed her eyes as if gathering her courage. “I thought he was at a neighboring ranch for a poker game and it would be a safe time for me to leave. But as I was getting ready to go, he stormed into the bedroom and demanded to know the name of the man I was leaving with. He refused to believe me when I said there was no one.” She burrowed closer to Jared. “He hit me.” She stopped and took a deep breath.
“It’s okay, Rachel.” He brushed a kiss across her brow. “He can’t hurt you any longer.”
“I was so scared,” she whispered. “She was with h
im and had this look on her face, as if she knew she had won. She told him I should be punished, and all he did was scream at me that I could not leave. He had a fearsome temper to begin with and she kept telling him to hurt me. Then he brought out this knife.” Rachel’s breath hitched as the memory returned. “He told me I would never leave this house, that I would be here until the end of time. She…she said words I could not understand, and then I heard and felt this wind around me. That was all I knew until I woke up. At least, I thought I was waking up. Maya was there. She explained to me what had happened and that she’d appealed to her gods on my behalf. She said they’d exacted vengeance on Caleb and the woman. And that I would only have human form from sunset to sunrise. Maya would be here for me, but she would have her human form from sunrise to sunset. That day was the last time I truly saw her,” she murmured.
“But what about a chance of you coming back again?” he asked. “Nothing about that? Magic words? Fairy dust?”
“A key,” Rachel said flatly. “Supposedly there is a key that will release me from my half existence. But it was never said what the key looked like.”
“Snow White and Sleeping Beauty had it a lot easier,” Jared mused. “There was no description of this key? Where it might be? What exactly it’s supposed to do?”
She shook her head. “All Maya said is that I will know when I find it. She once said it was within. For nights I searched this house, from the attic to the floorboards downstairs, but I did not find a thing. I do not know if it was part of the legend or merely lost over the years.”
“Maybe it’s with the treasure,” he joked.
“Caleb did not trust banks. He once said he would bury all his money because then he knew it would be safe. I would think any money he hid was found years ago,” she said.
“Nowadays, Caleb would have been locked up in a psych ward.” Jared ran his hands up and down her arms in a soothing gesture.
“You mean an asylum.” She shivered at the thought. “He once threatened to put me in one. They are horrible places.”
“If he used that kind of threat he deserved everything he got.” He angled his body so he could look at her face. His first thought was to banish the shadows from her eyes. “Okay, enough scary stories for tonight. We don’t want nightmares, do we?”
“No,” she murmured. “But you have your own scary stories.”
“I called the sheriff’s department today,” he said. “They’re going to check out a trailer I found up in the hills. There’s nothing like a good meth lab bust to make a cop’s day.”
“And meth is bad.” She smiled, remembering what he’d told her about the dangerous drug.
“Definitely. It brings property values down.” He rolled over onto his side, facing her. “Enough talk about things we don’t want to worry about, lady. I’d rather talk about you. You’re naked and in my bed.”
She smiled. How could she not when he looked at her like a wicked little boy? “Yes, I am.”
“And I’m naked in my bed.” He easily lifted her up onto him until she was seated on his hips.
“Yes, you are.” She wiggled a bit until she found a comfortable position. She couldn’t help but notice what her wiggling did to his anatomy.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “And you’re absolutely positive Maya doesn’t know about anything we do at night?”
“Yes.”
“Because she gave me a funny look this morning.”
“I thought you said she gives you a funny look every morning.” Rachel stretched out her legs until she lay flat on top of him, with her arms resting on his chest. Any hint of shadows in her eyes was now gone.
“We’re going to find the key, Rach,” he said softly.
She was quiet for a moment. “What if doing so means I’ll completely disappear?” That idea no longer appealed to her, as it had for so many years.
Jared shook his head. “I don’t think that’s the case. Why would whatever Maya begged to save your life basically take it away, just because you discovered what would save you?”
“Is this what detectives do?”
“Solve puzzles? Definitely.” He ran his hand across her shoulder, enjoying the feel of her skin. “That’s how we catch the bad guys. Or in your case, find that magic key to unlock the dungeon door.”
She smiled at him. “My knight in shining armor.”
Jared wrapped his arms around her. “Oh, honey, not even close. Not close at all,” he whispered.
He was a goner. Jared Stryker had done the unthinkable. He had fallen in love with a woman who couldn’t give him more than nighttime hours.
But he felt his luck might be changing, which could mean that Rachel’s luck could change, too.
“It was a meth lab, all right.” Deputy Wright had called him that morning with the news. “Thanks for backing me up, Jared. I told the sheriff I felt the lab was up there and he told me no way. He was even trying to blame it on The Renegade.”
Jared stiffened at the idea of Lea being hassled by the law when she didn’t deserve it.
“So you set him straight?” he asked.
“The bust did. Plus your chief of police.” She chuckled.
“Wright,” he said, lowering his voice. “Do you think your boss might be dirty?”
“More than once, but I haven’t been able to find anything against him. The guys we busted are blaming you. They’re convinced you used the ranch as a cover so you could stake them out. We don’t think they’ll make bail, but you never know.”
“They never did have an ounce of brains between them,” he chuckled. “Thanks for the call, Wright.”
“No problem. If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know.”
“Same here.”
Jared clipped his cell phone on his belt loop. “Always did like having a target painted on my back,” he muttered, getting back to his work.
He’d spent the morning looking over the property, trying to think where the key might be hidden. He had even dug out the deed and description of the ranch, in case it mentioned an old well or shed.
“Any reason why your gods can’t give someone a description of a damn key?” he growled at Maya.
The woman didn’t turn a hair at his bad mood. “The time will come soon, and she will know when it is right.”
Jared glared at her. “Do you know what the key looks like?”
She shook her head. “I only feel it here.” She placed her hand over her heart. “Just as la niña, Rachel, will.”
“I’m one of the most logical men you can find,” he said. “So even talking about some magical key is not something I ordinarily do.”
“But you believe in it.” Her black eyes gleamed with understanding.
“So what do I do to find it? Slay a dragon? Throw an evil witch in an oven?”
Maya shook her head. “She must do it,” she said softly. “She will understand what she must do and she will do it.” She appeared to take pity on him. “You are in love with Rachel.”
He didn’t bother to admit the obvious. “I don’t understand love. I didn’t see much of it as a kid.”
“Love is in the heart and in the soul,” she said.
He considered her words. “So love is the key? What if Rachel falls in love with me? No…” He swiftly backed off. “Not me. She deserves someone better than me.” He felt a strange pang in the vicinity of his heart.
Maya moved closer to him. “Love understands what is right and what is wrong. Love will make everything right,” she said cryptically.
“If love makes everything right, how did someone like Rachel, with so much capacity to love, end up with Bingham back then?” he demanded. “How did someone who only wanted to love and be loved end up dead by her husband’s hand?”
She slowly shook her head. “Things happen that we do not understand,” she murmured. “I do not know why she suffered.”
“But you have a theory,” he guessed, seeing a familiar gleam in her eye. “You think you know why
,” he added.
She nodded. “I think my Rachel was born too soon. And I think that who was truly meant for her hadn’t been born yet.” She eyed him closely. “Since a mistake was made, something had to be done to put things right.”
“You’re making it sound like some kind of fairy tale,” Jared pointed out. “I never believed in fairy tales.”
“Maybe you need to,” Maya said.
He stared at her, waiting for more, but he should have known better. Whenever he wanted answers, she kept her mouth shut. When he didn’t want any, she talked his ear off. He sighed heavily. He really hated giving in to her!
“There has to be more to it,” he argued.
She smiled as if she knew he would say so. “You cannot worry. You go out and do your work. Everything will be fine.” She picked up a large pot. “I will make stew.”
“I’ll be outside,” he told her, not having a clear idea what he’d be doing there. He just wanted to get out in the sunshine. He had already planned on waiting until cooler weather before he started painting inside. The idea of Rachel helping him choose colors for each room was appealing.
“You could dig up the garden,” Maya suggested. “We should plant vegetables.”
“You mean I should plant them.” He already envisioned an aching back with a dictatorial Maya directing him. “And leave my beer alone!” He walked outside. Frustration already stirred a tempest inside him. Seeing Harley in the middle of the former garden, digging a hole while carrying a beef bone in his mouth, merely added to it. “I mean it, Harley! No more holes!”
As if afraid his prize would be taken away from him, the young dog ran around the side of the house.
Jared glared at the holes the dog had already dug. “Maybe I should have let him keep on digging. That way, most of the work would have been done for me.”
As he walked off, he glanced upstairs at his bedroom window. He imagined the curtain stirred. Feeling lighter at heart, he smiled in that direction, then headed on. He was already counting the minutes until sundown.
Looks like you’ve got two choices. Either you find the key or you’ll still be doing this fifty years from now.
After the Midnight Hour Page 20